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Where are you during your Customer’s Journey? Discover the touchpoints you should already be acting on!

Discover the touchpoints you should already be acting on!

September, 2015

Customer Alliance

Online Reputation @en

Online Reviews @en

Pricing @en

You can learn a lot from your guests, particularly when it comes to the things that could make your business more successful. In the hospitality industry of 2015, it has become increasingly important for a hotel to make sure its customers and guests have a smooth booking experience; keeping an eye on your customer’s journey might just be the key to getting you more bookings.

Take Tobi, the traveller. As a business-owner and millennial, Tobi automatically turns to technology and the internet when looking for a place to stay, whether he be travelling for business or pleasure – sometimes he even likes to combine both!
At this point in his life, Tobi is a tried and experienced traveller and hotel-booker. He knows what he enjoys as a guest and customer, and knows what aspect of a hotel most speaks to him. So when it comes to finding and booking a hotel, he has his process down. Finding potential hotels with a good sampling of online reviews is an important part of that process. He always starts with some quick research, checking out at least 5 to 7 hotels and their online reviews before settling on a few he likes. Only hotels for which he can find online reviews make it into that list!

But what are the keywords Tobi is looking for? Does the hotel offer all the services he needs?

Not surprisingly, one of the first things our traveller Tobi likes to look at is the price. But although comparing prices is a very important part of the decision-making process, it’s by no means the only deciding factor. There are a number of keywords Tobi also looks out for, and at the top of that list is “breakfast” (after all, a good breakfast can make or break your day! And a breakfast that’s included with your stay is even better). He also always tries to get a sense of the quality of the hotel’s service.

After all of these things have been taken into consideration (online reviews, price, important services…), Tobi has three hotels left in his list of possibilities.
Tobi still has to decide where to book, and this is where you hook him or lose him. Tobi likes to book directly from a brand or merchant website. So when a hotel’s website doesn’t have a booking engine, he’ll generally turn to the two hotels that are remaining.
Tobi often decides to go somewhere for a business meeting or extend his trip at the last minute. In this situation, he likes to be able to book on-the-go, from his smartphone. After all, it’s 2015, and the age of technology. A hotel website that isn’t responsive with smartphones in today’s world gets another black mark. Such a website is more complicated to navigate, and Tobi doesn’t want to bother spending too much time searching for the information he needs.
He’s left with one option: he turns to the hotel with a responsive website and books his room.

He comes to the hotel and enjoys the service (and breakfast!) he was hoping for, giving you the satisfaction of having made a guest happy. But his customer journey doesn’t end with his check-out!
When he gets home, he receives an email asking if he would be so kind as to leave a review. With memories of his recent stay fresh in his mind, he decides to do it: he writes the review immediately.

And the next time another Tobi the traveller starts researching a place to stay in your town, he comes across this same review and is convinced to book as well!

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